Christine de Pisan (1365-1430)

Christine de Pisan (circa 1365 - circa 1430) was a French poet and arguably the first female author in Europe to make a living from being a writer.

When she was 24 her husband, Étienne du Castel, died which led to Pisan becoming a writer in order to support her three children. In her works, she attacked the then popular view that women were second class citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_de_Pizan

http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/christin.html

http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/ls201/christine1.html

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/pisan/Christine.html

http://www.themiddleages.net/people/christine_pisan.html